Pussy grabs back: Why feminism is the real winner in this extraordinary US election

Ask A Feminist is our regular column tackling issues on sexism and womanhood in a real-life, 21st century context. This week, Stylist contributor Léonie Chao-Fong argues that, despite the slew of rampant sexism present in the US presidential campaign process, this election will be a win for feminism - whoever wins at the polls.

My fellow humans, dear comrades in this nightmare that is 2016: it's almost over.

Finally – oh finally – the end is within sight, so agonisingly within reach of our fingertips. The end to what has felt like an interminable stretch of (pardon my language) shit-slinging and political mayhem, of pussy-grabbing and literal bloodletting (or so according to the Republican nominee).

In a matter of days, the next leader of the free world will be crowned under a shower of garishly coloured balloons (the balloons really are quite the highlight, just look at Bill's face). That is, barring any catastrophe leading to the complete meltdown of American politics. Which, all things considered, isn't impossible.

As we dust ourselves of the ashen remains that has been the 2016 United States presidential election campaign, let us take some small delight in the one silver lining of this earthbound inferno.

Because on November 8th - despite who wins at the polls - there will be one clear winner: feminism. And it's all thanks to the most shameless and unrepentantly sexist political figure in modern history.

The 2016 US election campaign: giving the middle finger to our sanity

To all intents and purposes, Hillary Clinton would appear to be the ultimate feminist icon. Yet when she announced her candidacy in April of last year, it quickly became clear that securing 'the women's vote' would be much harder than expected. America's first female presidential nominee for a major party was having serious trouble winning over women.

Young women, in particular, were struggling to muster enthusiasm for Clinton. Many instead felt the Bern, with 82% of them voting for Sanders in the New Hampshire primary in February. For many, feminism was a secondary factor — if a factor at all — that was made up of largely "outdated" issues, far outweighed by Sanders' liberalism and democratic socialist principles.

Clinton initially struggled to win the support of young women, many of whom preferred her opponent Bernie Sanders

Then Donald Trump happened.

In what will be remembered as the election's defining moment, a 2005 tape was leaked in which the Republican nominee revealed to Access Hollywood anchor and fully-fledged creep Billy Bush that he had "grabbed" women by the pussy" without their permission. In other words, he was bragging about sexual assaulting women.

When multiple women came forward to confirm what he had already said he'd done, he denied the allegations, saying that the women were too ugly to assault or that they actually "welcomed" it.

Trump has consistently demonstrated that he values women purely as sex objects to objectify, dehumanise and assault at will. The full list of vile (and sometimes downright weird) things that Trump has said about women is too long to go into full here, but choice highlights include:

What Trump managed to do — and that Clinton's campaign team had failed to do this entire time — is that he made her relatable to women across America.

For those women who had distanced themselves from feminism, who felt that the barriers no longer applied to them, Trump's words cast a spotlight on the everyday sexism that affects us all.

They proved that the battle for equality is so, so very far from being over.

Because every woman has, at some point in her life, encountered a Trump-like caricature of a woman-hating chauvinist. Every woman has been judged on her appearance, reduced to weight measurements and hair colour and genitals. Every woman has been shamed for her sexuality or belittled for her gender. And because nearly one in five women in the US say they have been sexually assaulted.

As Michelle Obama said, "I feel it so personally. The shameful comments about our bodies. The disrespect of our ambitions and intellect. It is cruel. It's frightening. It hurts.

"It's like that sick, sinking feeling you get when you're walking down the street and some guy yells out vulgar words about your body. Or when you see that guy at work that stands just a little too close, stares a little too long, and makes you feel uncomfortable in your own skin."

The (fingers tightly crossed, because polls are hinting at an extremelyclose result) election of America's first ever female president will no doubt be a groundbreaking moment.

If Clinton wins, the feminist fight must continue. Trump has breathed new life into the movement, by forcing women's bodies to the very forefront of the national conversation. But feminists must continue to strive to debate the issues that have barely seen light in the past year: equal pay, affordable childcare, reproductive rights, intersectional feminism and socioeconomic equality.

As Clinton said towards to the end of the second presidential debate, "This is not an ordinary time." No ma'am, it certainly is not. It's time for the pussy to grab back.

Trump v. the definitive symbol of freedom and democracy (hands off her, Donald)